Bayard Rustin’s Visit to UMD

On By umdarchivesIn Black History, Campus History, LGBTQ History, People, Student Life, Student Publications, UpdatesLeave a comment

By: Eleanor Vander Laan

Happy Black History Month!

In today’s Terrapin Tales blog, we will be diving into the time civil rights leader Bayard Rustin spoke on campus in 1965. Invited by the University of Maryland Law Enforcement Institute, Rustin’s talk was intended to inform law enforcement officers of the challenges civil rights workers faced. The controversy that arose with Rustin’s visit illuminates the tension between upholding freedom of speech in public institutions and the interests of state constituents. 

Who was Bayard Rustin? 

Bayard Rustin (1912-1987) was a political organizer best known for his contributions to the civil rights movement. He is often recognized for his contributions to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and as the founder and director for the A. Philip Randolph Institute of the AFL-CIO’s Civil Rights Department (the papers of which are in SCUA’s Labor and Unions collecting area); these accomplishments are no doubtly important, but they often overshadow the other aspects of Rustin’s life as a dedicated pacifist. He was a member of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and visited interned Japanese Americans in 1941 to report on the condition of internment camps; and as a member of the non-violent organization the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) he helped other FOR members form the Congress of Racial Equality, led protests against colonial rule in India and Africa, and was arrested for being a conscientious objector during WWII. 

An aged Bayard Rustin with white hair speaks into a microphone at an event.
Bayard Rustin speaking at Solidarity Day, September 19, 1981, AFL-CIO Information Department, Photographic Prints collection, Accession 2014-001-RG96-001, Series 1: Subject Files, 1890-1995, Subseries 3: Photographs, 1975-1995, Box: 7, Folder 3: Solidarity days, https://hdl.handle.net/1903.1/34131.

Newspaper articles about Rustin’s UMD speaking engagement largely rely on Rustin’s FBI dossier to describe the reasons why people objected to his visit. The first reason was for his arrest as a conscientious objector. The second was because as a young man in the 1930s, he had been a member of the Young Communists League, although he left them after five years once they were no longer a pacifist organization. Lastly, in 1953 Rustin was arrested on “moral charges” for having sex with men in a parked car; he pleaded guilty to the charge of “sex perversion” and served 60 days in jail. Although the newspapers and protests against Rustin’s appearance cite these three reasons chiefly, it is impossible to separate Rustin’s reputation from his involvement in the civil rights movement. Although now remembered as a positive turning point in American history, the movement for racial equality was not universally popular in the 1960s. 

Rustin’s charges of “sex perversion” followed him for the rest of his career as an activist. He would eventually leave SCLC because of the negative attention his previous actions brought to the organization. In 1962, Rustin became involved in planning the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom but decided to take on a deputy position in leadership to ensure his prior legal entanglements did not interfere with the March. Despite this, Senator Strom Thurmond still had his entire 1953 arrest file entered into the Congressional Record in an attempt to (unsuccessfully) sabotage the March. 

Bayard Rustin, the Ober Oath, and his Speeches at UMD

In 1949, the State of Maryland passed the Maryland Subversive Activities Act, commonly referred to as the Ober Law. The act required all state employees to submit a written statement that they were not a “subversive person.”1 Created during the height of the second Red Scare, the law was meant to provide a means of enforcement to remove communists and communist sympathizers from government. Since Rustin was to receive an honorarium for speaking, he was asked to sign the oath. On the grounds of “democratic principles,” Rustin refused to sign the oath, stating “I have long opposed all totalitarianism, both Communism and Fascist, and one of my main reasons for doing so is precisely that in such systems, the state invades every area of life and even attempts to police the spirit. The loyalty oath which you have asked me to sign is tainted with this totalitarian philosophy. In short, this oath has no serious function other than to create an atmosphere of suspicion and conformity.”2 The State Attorney General issued a statement that the oath was not meant to be used for ‘one or two shot’ appearances. 

Regardless of the fact that the Attorney General said Rustin did not need to sign the oath, outrage against his appearance ensued. Conservative think-tank and John Birch Society-led group the American Opinion Library (AOL) started a telephone campaign against the University for inviting Rustin, calling up to 2000 people a day to encourage them to let the University know of their displeasure; a petition distributed by AOL and the Committee to Help and Encourage Local Police (H.E.L.P.) called for the firing of the staff member who invited Rustin in the first place.3 Even Maryland politicians got involved as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates and a Baltimore County Councilman both made public statements against Rustin’s appearance.4 

Based on reactions in the student newspapers, students largely supported Rustin’s right to speak at the University. In a letter to the editor, student Carolyn L. Walker even wrote that a vote of confidence should be given to Chancellor Elkins for not caving to pressure to cancel “regardless of [Rustin’s] previous background.” Her letter ended with the statement that “Whether Rustin refuses the invitation or not, we should be ashamed of our needless fear of the unknown and our constant suspicion of every neighbor that isn’t our idea of a plaster saint.”5

Excited by Rustin’s impending visit to campus, Students for a Free University invited him to speak at their own event at a different time on October 12th.6 Notably, they took a vote and chose not to praise Elkins for this decision. It is unclear and seems unlikely that Rustin was able to speak to the organization.

When the day of October 12th finally came, Rustin spoke at both the College Park and Baltimore locations of the Law Enforcement Institute. There were no physical protests against his speech despite threats. Rustin’s speech covered the historical development of the civil rights movement and ended with a call for greater societal investment in racial equality; labor organizers, churches, intellectual leaders, and students were making progress, but they could not do it alone.7 Notably, at the Law Enforcement Institute event, a speaker from the FBI also scheduled to speak withdrew with the implication that he would not speak alongside a former communist draft dodger.8 

Bayard Rustin holds up a hand while speaking. The caption on the photo reads "A campus controversy arose last Fall when an invitation to civil rights leader Bayard Rustin was challenged by a John Birch Society member. This began as a result of Rustin's refusal to sign the Maryland Loyalty Pledge. Rustin spoke before the Law Enforcement Institute on October 12, after it was decided by the state legislature that it would not be necessary to sign the pledge for one appearance.
Bayard Rustin, October 12, 1965. Terrapin yearbook, University Publications Collection.

Conclusion

Following Rustin’s visit, the Maryland House of Delegates voted to adopt a resolution encouraging the University to consider the “morality or criminal records of invited lecturers.”9 Coming against the powers of First Amendment, delegates could only encourage the University to a certain way, but could not mandate it.

The opinions of the House of Delegates did not reflect those of UMD students. In an editorial opinion titled “The cheated student and speaker bans,” a Diamondback editor expressed his disappointment in University offices and student organizations that hesitated to invite political speakers due to the backlash caused by Rustin. The editor urged the University Committee on Speakers to adopt an “open speaker” policy so that more well-known, political, and provocative speakers would be invited to campus.10

Sources:

  1.  Maryland Oath of Office and the Ober Law, Maryland State Archives. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000138/pdf/am138–325.pdf 
  2. Warren Lewis, “Rustin, MU Oath Stir Controversy” The Diamondback, 1965-09-30.
  3. John Renner, “Invitation Stands: Rustin Will Speak,” The Diamondback, 1965-09-27.
  4.  Eileen Burke, “Two Politicians Blast Rustin’s Rights Talk,” The Diamondback, 1965-09-29.
  5.  Carolyn L. Walker, “Elkins Hot Seat,” The Diamondback, 1965-10-01.
  6. “SFU Invites Rustin to Address Undergrads in BPA Auditorium,” The Diamondback, 1965-10-04.
  7.  John M. Purnell and Anne Groer, “Rustin Maintains Stand On Loyalty Oath Dispute,” The Diamondback, 1965-10-13.
  8. “FBI Cancels Speaker In Wake of Rustin Visit,” The Diamondback, 1965-10-25.
  9. “U.M. Chided for Inviting Rustin Talk,” Baltimore Sun, October 14, 1965.
  10. “The cheated student and speaker bans,” The Diamondback, 1966-10-24.

Eleanor Vander Laan is a graduate student assistant in University Archives, pursuing a Master’s of Library and Information Science and an M.A. in History. Eleanor is interested in activism history, religious history, and making archives affirmative rather than exclusionary spaces. 

Student Life 100 Years Ago—from the Pen of J. Franklin Witter

On By umdarchivesIn Agriculture, Campus History, Historical Item Analysis, Student Life, UpdatesLeave a comment

By: Anne S.K. Turkos, University Archivist Emerita

Introduction to J. Franklin Witter’s Letters

Ever since the UMD Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) acquired the papers of J. Franklin Witter in 1990, I have been waiting for just the right moment to do a series on Terrapin Tales about his letters to his girlfriend, Frances LaRue King, and the pictures they paint of student life at the University of Maryland 100 years ago. We start today with his earliest letter, dated February 13, 1926, and will post the remaining letters from that year (March 28, May 16, September 19 and 28, October 3, 11, 14, and 17, and December 18) as those anniversaries occur.

Black and white photo of a young man with a close cropped haircut. He is wearing a white collared shirt, a dark sport jacket, and a striped tie.
John Franklin Witter, 1928 Reveille yearbook, p. 88

Who were J. (John) Franklin Witter and Frances LaRue King? Witter, known to friends and family as “Frank,” was born on June 11, 1906, in Frederick, Maryland, the son of Harry and “Jennie” (Mary Catherine Virginia) Miller Witter. He was born and raised on a farm and learned early on to respect farming as a way of life. After attending Frederick High School, he entered the University of Maryland in September 1924 and began his studies in the Dairy Husbandry curriculum in the College of Agriculture, receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in June 1928. While an undergraduate, he captained the Debate Team, served as an officer for the Livestock Club and the Student Grange, organized conferences for the Y.M.C.A., was an active member of the Delta Psi Omega social fraternity, and was inducted into three honorary fraternities (Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Alpha Zeta, the agriculture honorary).

Following graduation from the university, he taught vocational agriculture to students in the Lisbon and West Friendship high schools in Howard County, Maryland, before enrolling in the veterinary school at Michigan State College. After receiving his degree in 1932, he accepted a position at the University of Maine, in Orono, in the Department of Animal Industry and had a long and successful career as a faculty member and veterinarian until his retirement in 1971. He was also an active member of the Maine Veterinary Medical Association, among many other accomplishments. In 1974, the University of Maine named its new animal facilities in Witter’s honor, and the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station’s research and teaching programs are today housed in the J. Franklin Witter Teaching and Research Center. Witter passed away on September 29, 1982, at the age of 76.

Black and white photo of a young woman. She has slightly curly hair pulled back behind her ears.
 Frances LaRue King, 1932 Reveille yearbook, p. 67

Frances LaRue King, Witter’s correspondent, was one of his neighbors back home in Frederick. When the letters begin in 1926, Witter is a sophomore at the university, and Frances, who is four years younger, is still a student at Frederick High School. 

[SPOILER ALERT—Even though Frank addresses Frances as “Dearest,” and their romance does deepen over time, they end up marrying other people. I had hoped for a love story here, in addition to all his commentary about life at UMD, but unfortunately it was not meant to be. Frank’s letters to Frances end in 1931. The last few contain indications that their relationship had lost its fervor over time, but the correspondence must truly have meant something to her for her to have preserved the 124 letters.  Frank married Verna Harriet Church, whom he met while he was attending Michigan State, in July 1933, less than a year after he began teaching at the University of Maine. In 1937, Frances married Theodore Meyer, whom she met at Maryland.]

Frances enrolls at Maryland, the first in her family to go to college, in September 1928, the semester after Witter graduates, and receives her bachelor of science degree in home economics and a teaching certificate in June 1932. While at UMD, she was active in the Y.W.C.A., Student Grange, and the Livestock and Riding Clubs and was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Following graduation, she taught school in Clarksville and Frederick, Maryland, until her marriage. She continued to teach for several years after she and her husband moved to Colorado and then on to Utah, following Ted’s career with the Union Pacific Railroad. Frances lived an active and full life until she passed away on March 21, 2010, at the age of 100.

Donor Jay Kalvan found the letters Frank wrote to Frances, as well as a number of additional letters that appear to be to and from other King family members dating as late as 1944, in an antique desk he purchased from a dealer in Kensington, Maryland. He decided, after thoroughly enjoying their content, that they really should have a home at UMD, and he donated them to the Libraries in September 1990. 

Each post in this series will contain a digitized copy of one of Witter’s letters along with an annotated transcription to provide context. You may be surprised by how little student life and concerns have changed over the last 100 years. I hope you enjoy reading the letters as much as Mr. Kalvan did and find them informative. I have had a blast transcribing and editing them! 

And so we begin…the day before Valentine’s Day, 1926…

Witter’s First Letter, February 13, 1926

Letter in cursive written on Maryland letterhead. The top of the letter has two hearts pierced by an arrow with the caption "P.S. you must tell me who he is. I don't know anyone to tease you about." The full letter is transcribed in the body of the post.
Witter to King, February 13, 1926, p. 1

P.S. you must tell me who he is. I dont know anyone to

tease you about.

[drawing of 2 hearts shot through with arrows—

question marks above the hearts] Feb. 13, 1926

Dear Frances,

I am sorry I was so long answering your

most welcome letter, but needless to say, I ‘ve been busy in

the superlative. However, after this snow and the many pleasant

sled rides it recalls, I could not restrain from expressing my

thoughts of you in some visible form. I wish I were home

now—just one night. We could have a good time on

the Pike1, couldn’t we?

Now that exams are over, I suppose you feel better.

You must tell me how you came out. Do you like school

any better than you did?

In spite of extra work (outside of studies) I did not 

flunk anything last semester. In fact I made 6 A’s and

2 B’s out of my eight subjects2.

I like my new subjects3 this semester. One of them

is Dairying. It promises to be a good course. I also like

Cursive letter on yellowing paper. Transcription in body of page below.
Witter to King, February 13, 1926, p. 2

PAGE 2

my course in Economics. Every farmer ought to

know something about vary variation in prices and what

causes it, also about other things in regard to money

matters and business.

You bet! I would have liked to have been there

for that song Service you mentioned. I can’t sing, but I

enjoy hearing others. I also like Rook4. Ha! Ha!

Papa5 was coming down here Thursday evening, but the 

snow prevented his making the trip.

No, Frances, I won’t be home until June unless

something unexpected turns up. You see I work every hour I don’t 

have to study—I’m ^much more busy down here than I am at home

You asked about what I thought of a School ring. It really

makes little difference—just so it has F.H.S.6 on it—what type

of ring it is. So I think you were all right in voting for a class

ring.

Ross7 is coming along fine. He studies and makes good

marks.

I’m eating some cake that Sister8 sent down last week. If you 

see her tell her I’m enjoying it very much. Now if this was 

Christmas I’d have to come home some day and get Frances

to give me a bit of her cake.

Don’t work too hard, take good care of yourself, and 

remember me to the folks. Write soon for I certainly enjoyed that 

letter—just like you—sweet.

Your friend,

Frank

1 There are several pikes in the Frederick area to which this term could refer, including Old National Pike, Gas House Pike, and Opossumtown Pike. The 1910 census also shows Witter residing in his grandparents’ household on the Baltimore Turn Pike Road.

2 During the fall 1925 semester, Frank took Chemistry, Geology, Elementary Pomology, Field Crop Production, Feeds & Feeding, Basic R.O.T.C., Public Education in the U.S., and Extempore Speaking.

3 Frank’s classes for the spring 1926 semester were Extempore Speaking, Farm Drainage, Principles of Soil Management, Dairying, and Principles of Economics.

4 Rook is a trick-taking card game played with a special deck containing no face cards, first sold by Parker Brothers in 1906.

5 Frank’s father, Harry Baker Witter, was born in Illinois in 1867. The 1930 census indicates that he eventually left the farm and moved into the city of Frederick, residing on Pennsylvania Avenue.

6 Frederick High School

7 “Ross” may refer to Marion A. Ross, who was an officer for the Livestock Club in Witter’s senior year.

8 The 1920 census shows four sisters for Witter, Mary R. (age 30), Grace E. (age 22), Alice C. (age 19), and Rebecca V. (age 10). Rebecca, three years younger than Frank, may well be the cake baker, since Frank mentions her frequently by name in later letters. 

Check back on March 28th for the next installment!

Anne S.K. Turkos is the University Archivist Emerita for the University of Maryland. She has been a part of the staff of the UMD Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives since January 1985. Prior to her retirement in July 2017, she worked with campus departments and units, student groups, and alumni to transfer, preserve, and make available permanent university records. She continues to support the Archives through her work on special projects and fundraising. Follow Anne on X (formerly Twitter) at @AnneTurkos.

Researching Jim Henson

On By umdarchivesIn alumni, Henson, UpdatesLeave a comment

By Anne S.K. Turkos
University Archivist Emerita

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Jim Henson touches up an early Kermit, 1957, Philip Geraci photographs.

The University Archives (UA) receives numerous queries about Jim Henson’s student days and the impact UMD had on his life and career. While the mother lode of documentation is located at The Jim Henson Company, there are a number of archival resources available in UA and other UMD Libraries Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) units to assist researchers.

Maryland and Historical Collections (MDHC) (contact: Joni Floyd)

This unit focuses on materials documenting the history and culture of the state of Maryland and a broad range of collection strengths not addressed by other entities in SCUA. One of the largest collections in MDHC is the morgue of the Baltimore News American, a rival paper to the Baltimore Sun, which ceased to publish in 1986. The Hearst Corporation donated over one million photographs taken for the BNA, including one file of images relating to Jim, with shots of him loading his early puppets into the trunk of his car to head off to work.

Mass Media and Culture (MMC) (contact: Laura Schnitker)

The Mass Media and Culture collections document multiple facets of the history of commercial and public broadcasting in the United States. Henson-related materials appear in four collections:

  • Arch Campbell Papers—Campbell has been a reporter on entertainment in the DMV since the 1970s. His papers include materials on Henson stories he filed in 1986, 1994, and 1997.
  • Records of Children’s Television Workshop (CTW)—CTW, known today as Sesame Workshop, was founded in 1966 to produce educational children’s television programs, the most famous of which is Sesame Street. The CTW records contain files specifically on Jim Henson as well as more extensive coverage of the Muppets in general, including five boxes of viewer comments on the Muppet characters.
  • Programming files from PBS and PBS-NET, dating from 1969 to 2003, contain photos and print materials documenting Sesame Street and Henson’s work on the program.

Special Collections in Performing Arts (SCPA) (contact: John Davis)

Special Collections in Performing Arts collects, provides access to, and preserves performing arts materials documenting performance practice, instruction, and scholarship. Among its holdings are the:

  • Edward L. Longley Papers—UMD faculty member Edward Longley had both Jim and Jane Henson as students in his puppetry classes. His papers include publications focusing on Jim’s career, photographs of Jim and his artwork, and two original pieces of Jim’s art.
  • Polly Smith Collection—Polly Smith is an inventor and costume designer who created costumes for multiple Jim Henson Company productions, beginning in 1978. Her collection contains professional papers, photographs, books, audio and video materials, magazine and newspaper clippings, and realia.
  • Jim Henson Video Collection—The Jane Henson Foundation and The Jim Henson Legacy donated 68 full-length videos spanning Jim’s career in television and film, as well as funding to support their digitization and maintenance. The collection may be viewed at public computer stations within the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library, McKeldin Library, and Hornbake Library.
  • SCPA Collection on Jim Henson—The SCPA staff has gathered ephemera, video and audio recordings, digital files, and publications documenting Henson’s life and intellectual property. The collection also contains materials chronicling Henson’s legacy, e.g. the Jim Henson Artist-in-Residence Program at UMD.

University Archives (UA) (contact: Natalie Trapuzzano)

The University Archives is the primary repository for a wide range of resources documenting all aspects of life at UMD since its founding in 1856 as the Maryland Agricultural College. Coverage of Jim Henson can be found among its holdings of:

  • Board of Regents minutes
  • Photos and documents from the Offices of University Publications, University Communications, Athletic Media Relations, and Sports Information, as well as the Alumni Office and the President’s Legal Office
  • Publications—the Diamondback and the May 1958 Old Line, a student feature magazine
  • University Theater show programs, scrapbooks, and cast and set photos in Terrapin yearbooks
  • Videos from UMTV and the University Video office
  • Faculty papers from James Reveal, including an autographed copy of the May 1978 Commencement program when Jim received an honorary degree, and Philip Geraci, who took a compelling set of photos of Jim and Jane Henson and the early Muppets
  • Recordings of the UMD Bands—Jim designed a Symphonic Band album cover as well as several covers for recordings of the Interfraternity Sing
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Album cover for the University of Maryland Symphonic Band created by Jim Henson. Image courtesy of The Jim Henson Legacy

A search in the UMD Libraries’ Digital Collections will bring together all the digitized photographs and videos across the four Special Collections units listed above. You can also contact the curator for each unit for more information about the digital and analog Jim Henson-related materials in their collections.

NOTE: This post previously appeared in the June 2025 issue of the University of Maryland Retired Faculty Association (UMDRFA) newsletter, The Silver Terp. You can find this issue and previous issues of TST on the UMDRFA blog. Since June 2024, Turkos has written an article on UMD history for each issue. Turkos has also submitted five UMD trivia questions for each issue since August 2024.

Anne S.K. Turkos is the University Archivist Emerita for the University of Maryland and a member of the Executive Committee of the University of Maryland Retired Faculty Association (UMDRFA). She has been a part of the staff of the UMD Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives since January 1985. Prior to her retirement in July 2017, she worked with campus departments and units, student groups, and alumni to transfer, preserve, and make available permanent university records. She continues to support the Archives through her work on special projects and fundraising. Follow Anne on X (formerly Twitter) at @AnneTurkos.

Early Visions for the University of Maryland

On By umdarchivesIn Agriculture, Campus History, Historical Item Analysis, UpdatesLeave a comment

By: Anne S.K. Turkos

Among the thousands upon thousands of documents, photographs, publications, audiovisual materials, and memorabilia objects in the University of Maryland Archives, there are number of pieces that have a special significance for UMD and its history—the minutes from the meeting when the Board of Regents approved Hiram Whittle’s admission as the first African American undergraduate, the original Testudo, Pyon Su’s diploma, the photo of the first graduating class to include women, to mention just a few. As a new academic year begins, and thoughts turn to goals for the coming months and years, it seemed appropriate to share two additional seminal documents that the Archives has the honor to preserve, letters from the founder of the Maryland Agricultural College (MAC) and a member of its first graduating class outlining their visions for the institution that was such a major part of their lives.

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Charles Benedict Calvert. Photo by Matthew Brady. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-cwpbh-03464
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Calvert to Nicholson, September 29, 1858, page 1, Maryland and 
Historical Collections, Maryland Manuscript 5473

The stories of how these documents came to the Archives are intriguing and somewhat murky. The first of the two, a letter dated September 29, 1858, from MAC founder Charles Benedict Calvert to Baltimore businessman Jacob C. Nicholson, was purchased by the Archives in 2003 from Southern Cross Books in Illinois. The shop’s owner contacted the Archives saying he had an original letter written by Calvert and wondered if we would be interested. A “picker” who scoured rare books and manuscripts sales for items of interest to the owner had hit upon this piece because of the value of the stamp on the letter’s third page, which served as the envelope. When the owner reviewed the letter, he realized the contents were highly significant and had a direct University of Maryland connection, and he reached out to us. Upon seeing a photocopy of the letter and authenticating the handwriting, we immediately made the decision to purchase this piece.


The contents of the letter, which is in good condition considering its age, are truly extraordinary. Calvert is responding to Nicholson’s request for information about the new college under construction and outlines the academic subjects projected to be taught—“We expect to teach everything that is taught in the best Universities and in addition to those branches we shall require every student to learn Scientific and practical agriculture and mechanics” with the added requirement that each student engage in work on the college’s farm or in the workshops. Calvert’s vision was “to have an Institution superior to any other,” and he encouraged Nicholson to enroll his son when the MAC began operation and consider making a financial gift to support the new school. Calvert did persuade Nicholson to enroll his son Jacob, you can find him listed among the students in the first entering class on the MAC’s original student register, but Nicholson did not purchase a share of stock in the new college.

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    William B. Sands, MAC Class of 1862, in later life. University Archives, Acc.72-161, Series 3, Photo by Richard Walzi
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    Sands to Earle, May 10, 1877, page 1

The exact path that the second letter took to the UMD Archives is less clear. This 18-page missive from William B. Sands, MAC Class of 1862, to James T. Earle, one of the seven stockholder representatives on the MAC Board of Trustees, was discovered during the arrangement and description of the personal papers of former UMD president Thomas B. Symons in 1998. We will never know how the letter, dated May 10, 1877, ended up in Symons’ hands, but the Archives staff decided to have it professionally conserved to preserve it before transferring it to the small collection of Sands’ documents and photographs that his great granddaughter, Mary Read Young, donated in 1984. 

At age 35 and in the midst of a career as a publisher, judge, agriculturalist, and civic leader, Sands reached out to Earle to outline his views on the future direction of the college. He comments on the current state of farmers and agricultural education in Maryland and what he believes were the original intentions of the college’s founders, while emphasizing his belief that MAC should focus on providing a practical and excellent education for future farmers. He describes in great detail the coursework, faculty positions, admission standards, resources, and ultimate goals he feels are appropriate for incoming students. Sands also has specific recommendations about who should serve as president of the college—“That professor who promised greatest ability and tact in government”—and urges that Captain [William H.] Parker be retained in that position. He notes that MAC must maintain instruction in Tactics as required by its designation as a land grant institution, but urges that all other “military features and government” be abandoned in favor of having each student spend some time each day working on the farm or in the garden or mechanical shop. Sands acknowledges that Earle and other members of the Board of Trustees have more experience in administering the college and may find his plans unworkable, but he notes that “Everything hinges on the selection of the men,” outlining, in his concluding pages, the specific requirements he sees for the individual professors to be hired and the challenges he foresees in obtaining the caliber of faculty he envisions.

After reading both documents, it is interesting to compare the visions of these figures from early MAC history to the University of Maryland we know today. I would argue that Calvert’s desire “to have an Institution superior to any other” is still a driving force in all aspects of UMD life. Sands’ dream of having the college focus solely on the education of “youth who were to engage in agricultural pursuits” and all the components that would support this was never fully realized, although his suggestion to drop mandatory military training once and for all was implemented in the latter half of the 20th century. Other qualities Sands noted, for both the president and the faculty members he envisioned hiring, are still relevant today, so we can learn a thing or two from these visionaries.

Anne S.K. Turkos is the University Archivist Emerita for the University of Maryland. She has been a part of the staff of the UMD Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives since January 1985. Before retirement in July 2017, she worked with campus departments and units, student groups, and alumni to transfer, preserve, and make available permanent university records. She continues to support the Archives through her work on special projects and fundraising and updating MAC to Millennium: The University of Maryland A to Z.

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“Objectionable Objections to Obscenity:” the Spring 2025 Maryland Room Exhibit

On By umdarchivesIn Campus History, Exhibits, Student Life, Student Publications, UpdatesLeave a comment

By: Eleena Ghosh and Eleanor Vander Laan 

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Photo of the entire exhibit, Hornbake Library Maryland Room

If you’ve ever been to Hornbake Library, you might have noticed some exhibit cases in the lobby and in the Maryland Room. These cases usually circulate around the different collecting areas within Special Collections and University Archives every few months and it’s completely up to each collecting area what they’d like to display in those cases. Last December, that opportunity came to UA- specifically to us as the student assistants in UA. Students rarely, if ever, get the chance to curate an exhibit from beginning to end on their own in graduate school education, so we jumped at the chance! 

The first step of having any sort of exhibit space is deciding on a topic. Almost at the same time, we both brought up Argus and the crumbs we have come across about some sort of lawsuit and controversy that they were involved in in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Argus, a student publication, has always been something University Archives is drawn to because of their interesting covers, contentious nature, and active involvement in campus activism and social issues. 

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(L) Exhibit poster / (R) The Incredible Sellout: The University Faculty in May 1970, Argus Vol. 6, No. 1, October 1970.

What is Argus?

Argus was a student-run magazine and newspaper at the University that had, by the 1960s, garnered a reputation for writing controversial, at times outlandish, and often button-pushing articles. By nature of being a politics and culture magazine, not everyone was going to like what they had to say, especially considering their at times inflammatory delivery, even those that may have politically agreed with them.

The writers of Argus were largely all a part of the White New Left, so they didn’t only get negative attention from the College Republicans and conservative parents (although they were a large part), but also the Democratic Radical Union of Maryland (DRUM) publicly considered their viewpoints sexist, and the Student Homophile Association (SHA) deemed them homophobic. Argus leaned into it though– not only did they invite people to push back against them and their articles, but they also published the angry letters sometimes. 

It’s important to note, however, that through all of this, they had never been seen as a “threat” to the University or to other students until the events of this exhibit.  

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(Top L) “Inmate forbidden to receive Argus”, Diamondback, November 25, 1970. / (R) “Letters”, Argus, Vol. 6, No. 4, February 1971. / (Bottom L) “Objectionable objections to obscenity”, Diamondback, November 25, 1970.

The Vietnam War & the Censored Issue

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(Top) National Guard setting up a pepper fog machine, / (Bottom) Students being arrested by the National Guard at a protest on McKeldin Mall, c. May 1970, History of the University of Maryland- Campus Unrest records.

Public demonstrations against the Vietnam War began in the mid-1960s, and in May 1970, the National Student Strike began; mass walk-outs and protests took place at 900 campuses across the country, including UMD, and the scale of the strike led to university presidents scrambling to send local, state, and federal police troops to their campuses to “contain” the protests and “reinstate order.” This led to large-scale clashes between students and police, some of which ended in the deaths of unarmed students, like at Kent State and Jackson State, where six students were shot and killed by the Ohio National Guard and Jackson Police, respectively.
At UMD, mass protests also began on May 1, 1970, when The Concerned Students and Faculty– a group formed after the arrest of 87 people at a March 1970 sit-in– called for a rally on McKeldin Mall. Afterwards, a crowd of more than 100 marched to the ROTC offices and took over Route 1, stopping all traffic and business; in response, Governor Marvin Mandel sent local police and state troopers to campus, resulting in a month-long cycle of violence, protest, and chaos. 

Argus was a vocal opponent of the war; they were directly involved in many of the protests on campus and the mutual aid between students, and wrote openly and sympathetically towards the anti-war movement. In December 1969, in light of the protests across the country, the Argus editors attempted to print an image of an upside-down, burning American flag on the cover of their issue as a commentary on the state of the nation during the war. Argus’ University-appointed printer objected to the cover and refused to print the issue, forcing the editors to ask the University for help arranging a second printer. But, Director of Purchasing Clayton Plummer informed the Maryland Attorney General’s Office of the cover image, who then advised President Wilson H. Elkins to halt the printing of the issue because he believed the cover to be in violation of the Maryland Uniform Flag Law. 

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Intended cover, Argus Vol. 6, No. 6, May 1971

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“Censored,” Argus, Vol. 5, No. 2, December 1969

Rather than delay the issue entirely, editor Bob Korn chose to print the issue with a plain white cover with the word “censored” in the middle. The back of the issue included a letter about the University’s dubious legal interpretation of the flag code, and the dangerous precedent their actions set for student censorship. 

Back Cover Text:

The cover originally planned for this issue of Argus depicts an American flag in flames. It does not appear, because after three weeks of mysterious behind-the-scenes maneuvering by the University administration, our original printer, and the state attorney general’s office, we were told that the magazine would not appear unless the cover photo was removed. In the option of the attorney general’s office, the photograph violates the Maryland Uniform Flag Law. Our legal experts dispute this. And we are sure that every newspaper and magazine distributed in Maryland, which regularly violate this same vague statue with no repercussions, would also disagree, but then again, Argus has never been the favorite reading material of University and State officials. We have been spared from joining the following criminals: Life, Time, Washington Post, Esquire, Diamondback, Playboy, Chicago Tribune, Village Voice, etc. etc. etc.

On the advice of the Attorney General Francis Burch’s office, the University administration prohibited our second printer from continuing with this issue, threatening him with nonpayment. Unfortunately, the administration has final control over funds for student publications. So, currently, we have no choice but to use this legally acceptable cover. We hope the art does not offend the politicians in the state.

A disastrous precedent has been set. Censorship has been used by the State of Maryland, with University complicity, to suppress valid editorial comment in a student publication. By declaring the cover illegal, the attorney general has infringed on the legally defined jurisdiction of the courts. His office has acted as judge, jury, and censor. This month the State says publishing a photograph of a burning flag is a criminal offense, and a student publication is stopped cold. Next month, the State could claim that another publication is obscene, or distasteful, or disrespectful, or un-American; and with one phone call, hold up publication.

When the state officials passed judgement on the cover of Argus, they opened the way for future infringements on freedom of expression. A policy of censorship has been established. It HAPPENED to this issue of Argus. Such a situation must not be allowed to exist.

The following were instrumental in our censorship:

Francis Burch, attorney general State of Maryland,

Wilson H. Elkins, president of University of Maryland,

Water B. Waetjen, vice president for administrative affairs,

Clayton Plummer, director University publishing,

Guthrie Lithograph, Washington, D.C.

Fuck Y*u

The First Lawsuit

With the support of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Argus sued the University of Maryland for the infringement of their first amendment rights. The lawsuit received mixed feedback from the campus community. In the Diamondback article “Hooray for Argus,” 1969 student Charlene Bennett criticized Argus for the hypocrisy of suing on the ground of the first amendment, a right the American flag symbolizes. But, they also received support, especially from Diamondback editors who publicly claimed that while they “cannot agree with everything Argus has printed,” they believed “Argus deserves your support.”

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“You Argus what you purchase,” Diamondback, Vol. 62, No. 105, March 20, 1970.
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“Hooray for Argus,” Diamondback, Vol. 62, No. 72, January 7, 1970.
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“Censorship case decided in favor of Argus staff”, Diamondback, Vol. 63, No. 6, September 18, 1970.

In September 1970, the lawsuit was decided in Argus’s favor. The administration’s claim that Argus had violated the Maryland flag desecration statute and that, because their funds came from student fees, the University had the right to withhold those funds, was denied by the three-judge panel that ruled that “there must be a showing that suppression of the contents of a student magazine is necessary to preserve order before such suppression can be constitutionally permitted.” The ruling also stated that just because the University finances Argus, that does not give them the right to censor it.

The Board Investigates the Student Activities Fee

In the wake of the Argus lawsuit, the Board of Regents started to question if the student activities fee – a mandatory $15 fee paid by all students – should finance controversial student publications. The lawsuit evoked public criticism across the state, including in the Maryland legislature where two bills were introduced to restrict student journalistic expression. 

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Legislators seek press clamps”, Diamondback Vol. 62, No. 92, March 3, 1970.

In February 1970, the Board of Regents formally established a committee to investigate the student activities fee and make recommendations to the University.

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Exhibit case about Board of Regents investigation

The Pornography Issue & The Second Lawsuit 

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Advertisement for Argus’ Creative Pornography contest, Diamondback, Vol. 63, No. 19, October 7, 1970.

The Argus editors were quite confident that the lawsuit was going to be decided in their favor (which turned out to be true), so before the lawsuit was officially decided, they began planning for their next controversial issue. In true Argus form, their next move was to launch a nationwide creative pornography contest in which the three winning submissions would be published in their upcoming issue. 

The talk and attention around Argus had yet to die down from the Censored Issue, but the announcement of this contest increased the fast-growing controversy around the publication tenfold. The University received angry letters from parents of students on campus, community members began sharing their opinions in student and local papers, and the students themselves found it to be a topic on everyone’s minds.

Not only were members of the campus community making their opinions known, but state legislators began publicly commenting on the activities of Argus as well, also weighing on the Board of Regents’ investigation into the publication’s funds– this increased public awareness of the Student Activities Fee meant that now students were also weighing in and voicing their own opinions and concerns about the allocation of their money to campus groups that they may not personally affiliate with or approve of.

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[ad for open legislature meeting], Diamondback, Vol. 63, No. 12, September 28, 1970.

The investigation grew so large that the Student Government Association (SGA) got involved, holding public hearings and meetings with students to gather their opinions on the Fee. For the most part, members of SGA were supportive of the Fee and its funding of Argus, regardless of their personal opinions of the publication– their public stance seemed to be that of many students, where they felt the larger issue at hand of potential suppression of opinion and free speech was being ignored.

Argus editors felt the contest had been blown way out of proportion– the key word they felt people were intentionally skipping over was that it was a creative pornography contest. Editor Dave Bourdon made it clear in his writings in the Diamondback that the aim of the contest was to push the boundaries of creative expression and writing– not to create or publish pornography. They wanted to publish humorous and satirical writing, not pornography. Because of this belief, they continued on with the contest and the issue. 

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“Suppression or freedom: There’s no middle ground,” Diamondback, Vol. 63, No. 57, December 12, 1970.

However, they ran into a strikingly familiar problem when they attempted to send the issue to the printer in November 1970– it was once again denied print and effectively censored. Despite their contract with Fontana Lithographic stipulating that they must print anything that was submitted as long as it was legal– even if it might contain material “objectionable to some persons,”– Fontana refused to print the issue on the grounds that it was “morally wrong.” The State Attorney General’s Office once again took the side of the printer, reasoning that the “hard-core pornography” in the issue violated Maryland obscenity law and that Fontana had the first amendment right to refuse to print. 

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“Printer stalls pornography issue,” Diamondback, Vol. 63, No. 42, November 9, 1970.

In January, 1971, the Argus editors once again sued the University and the State of Maryland for obstruction of their first amendment rights. 

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Exhibit case on the pornographic issue.

But, May came around and the lawsuit was still undecided. Many Argus editors were graduating– they needed to print the issue before the semester ended. Relying on their belief that the pornography contest had been widely misunderstood, Argus worked to find a way to print the issue and get it past the printers. Eventually, they did find a loophole that would allow them to do so. 

On May 19, 1971, the “Special Non-Pornographic Issue” was printed and distributed- a self-proclaimed “squeaky clean” Argus issue. That is, until readers flipped to the very middle of the issue and were presented with an eight-page insert with the three winning submissions from the creative pornography contest– a magazine within a magazine. 

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“The University of Maryland Censorship Hall of Fame,” Argus, Vol. 6, No. 6, May 1971

Right after an article titled “The University of Maryland Censorship Hall of Fame,” in which editor Alan Lewis recounted the University’s greatest censorship blunders, the supplement is revealed– a title page with the same cover but this time titled “The Special Pornographic Issue,” where readers could read stories about a woman’s sexual relations with her rutabaga son, a love story between two computers, and the sex of a married couple on vacation in Mexico. 

The supplement—and just the supplement—was paid for out of the Argus subscription earnings. The rest was paid for with University funds as usual. 

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[Diamondback publishing identification], Diamondback, Vol. 64, No. 2, September 13, 1971.

The Divestment

At the same time The Special Non-Pornographic Issue was published, the Board of Regents had reached a decision on their investigation into UMD’s Student Activities Fee. It’s unclear whether the latest Argus issue was a factor in the decision or not, but they ultimately decided to formally suggest to the school board to divest student publications from the Fee through the creation of a separate corporation that can oversee the publications. That corporation became known as Maryland Media Inc. and is still the overseeing corporation today. 

Concluding Thoughts

We had a lot of fun exhibiting this at-times wild story of pornography, student lawsuits, and pointed retorts, but ultimately this also a story of resistance against suppression. Though the University purported many ‘official’ reasons for their actions, the ability to look at the entire picture shows us that this is a story of a larger, more powerful institution wielding unequal power when responding to student dissent– a tale as old as time, unfortunately. Argus was vocal about the fact that this fight didn’t begin with them, nor would it end with them. This is a story that can still be seen in universities across the country today, including this one, and we felt it was an important time to tell this story. University Archives has long made it a point to celebrate student activism, student dissent, and students standing up for what they believe in, and this story is no different. 

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Exhibit in the Hornbake Library lobby.
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Exhibit in the Hornbake Library Maryland Room.


Eleena Ghosh is a former graduate student assistant in University Archives, who graduated in Spring 2025 with a Master’s of Library and Information Sciences and a Museum Scholarship and Material Culture Certificate. She is interested in museum studies, creating more inclusive archival records and spaces, and anthropology.

Eleanor Vander Laan is a graduate student assistant in University Archives, pursuing a Master’s of Library and Information Science and an M.A. in History. Eleanor is interested in activism history, religious history, and making archives affirmative rather than exclusionary spaces. 

Juan Ramón Jiménez at UMD

On By umdarchivesIn Campus History, Faculty & Staff, Latine History, PeopleLeave a comment

By: Eleena Ghosh

It’s National Poetry Month, and though his most known work in the U.S. is a prose piece, we’re celebrating the namesake of the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures– Juan Ramón Jiménez. 

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Juan Ramón Jiménez, Svenska Dagbladet, 1956, {{PD-US-no notice}} / Juan Ramón Jiménez, John Eichler, The Diamondback October 30, 1956.

Jiménez is one of the most celebrated Spanish writers of the 20th century. Born in 1881 in Andalusia, Spain, Jiménez wrote throughout his life; his first two books were published in 1900 at 19 years old, which is when he gained the attention of Madrid poet Ruben Dario. One of his most famous works was published not soon after in 1914- Platero y Yo (Platero and I), a prose work about his homeland in Andalusia, telling the story of a man and his donkey as they journey through life. Although he was primarily a poet, the translation of this prose work won him immense popularity in the U.S.A. and became a beloved story in both the U.S. and in Latin America.1 

When civil war broke out in Spain, Jiménez and his wife, Zenobia Camprubí– who was also a prolific writer and became a constant collaborator with Jiménez on most of his original works and translation work– moved to Cuba for a few years.  They eventually came to the United States, where Jiménez began teaching at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida in 1939.  They stayed there until 1942, composing works about the landscape of Coral Gables, before he and his wife moved to Washington, D.C.2

Most important to us– Jiménez came to teach at the University of Maryland, College Park in 1948 as a Professor of Modern Languages in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and taught here until 1951! His arrival was much anticipated and much celebrated by all members of campus. 

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“Famed Poet Has Spanish Class Here”, Shelley Shaffer, The Diamondback, Nov. 22, 1949

While here, he became a mentor and close friend to Graciela Palau de Nemes, who later also became a professor at UMD in 1953. Nemes remained here until her retirement in 1989 as Professor Emerita in the Foreign Languages Department. Nemes became the “biographer and specialist” on Jiménez and even documented the candidacy proposal for Jiménez’s receiving of the Nobel Prize in Literature.3 His candidacy was apparently proposed by the Foreign Language Department at UMD! 

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“Maryland Professors Meet Famous Author”, Jeannie Anderson, The Diamondback, Oct. 5, 1960.

He won in 1956, a few years after his tenure at UMD, but that didn’t stop the excitement and celebration on campus. 

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“Former University Professor to Get Nobel Literature Award Tomorrow”, Clare Wootten, The Diamondback, Oct. 24, 1956.

His ceremony was held in Puerto Rico, where he and his wife had relocated, and his friend, mentee, and collaborator, Dr. Nemes, even attended! She was there, of course as a friend, but also as a representative of the University of Maryland. She was invited to speak while there, reading the letter of nomination from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature. 

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“Dr. Nemes Back From Ceremonies”, The Diamondback, Nov. 9, 1956.

Even though he was here a short time, his impact on campus was felt by all who knew him. To commemorate that impact, UMD renamed the Foreign Languages Hall to the Juan Ramón Jiménez Hall in October 1981– the first time a UMD building had been named after a non-American. The re-naming celebrated the dedication to teaching and writing that Jiménez exemplified while at UMD- he allowed his students access to his personal library, brought famous lecturers to campus, served as an advisor to foreign language clubs, all on top of his work helping students with their linguistic studies. 

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“Jimenez hall is born”, Robert Zimmet, The Diamondback, Oct. 13, 1981.

After his time at UMD, Jiménez and his wife Camprubí settled in Puerto Rico. There, he was a Professor of Spanish Language and Literature at the University of Puerto Rico, and his literary influence on Puerto Rican writers can be seen in some of the works of famous Puerto Rican authors. He was also the poet-in-residence at the University, at 75 years old. 

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“Former University Professor to Get Nobel Literature Award Tomorrow”, Clare Wootten, The Diamondback, Oct. 24, 1956.

Jiménez’s impact on poetry, writing, and linguistics is invaluable, but his impact on UMD as a cultural hub was also vital. Because of his contributions while here, UMD’s Writers’ House is jointly named after him and Katherine Anne Porter, a prolific American fiction writer (who’s papers were left in part to Special Collections at UMD!). The Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House is the campus’ center for creative writing and literature across cultures– in a one- or two-year program, 50 to 60 students live in a close community and attend colloquia, share their writing, and attend special events together. The House also provides support for the creation of a vibrant literary community through public reading series, the publication of a literary journal and newspaper, study abroad programs, and community outreach activities. You can learn more about the House here and here. 

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Sources:

1 “100 years” Platero y Yo”, University of Maryland Libraries, https://lib.guides.umd.edu/c.php?g=327452&p=2196145

2 “Florida Commemorated Nobel Laureate Juan Ramon Jimenez Anniversary”, July 16, 2020, Juan Ramón Jiménez Foundation, https://www.juanramonjimenezfoundation.org/post/end-hunger-raises-5000-dollars-for-families-affected-by-hurricane-mila

3 Graciela Nemes papers, University of Maryland Libraries, https://archives.lib.umd.edu/repositories/2/resources/1356

Eleena Ghosh is a graduate student assistant in University Archives, pursuing a Master’s of Library and Information Sciences and a Museum Scholarship and Material Culture Certificate. She is interested in museum studies, creating more inclusive archival records and spaces, and anthropology.

On this day in 2001, the Pride Alliance Celebrates “Wear Jeans If You’re Gay Day”

On By umdarchivesIn Anniversaries, Campus History, LGBTQ History, Student Life, Student PublicationsLeave a comment

By: Eleanor Vander Laan

Flyer for the event "Wear Jeans If You're Gay Day" on Wednesday, April 11 2001. The flyer has a picture of a pair of legs wearing jeans. with the text "Got jeans in your closet?" and the University of Maryland Pride Alliance logo at the bottom.
“Wear Jeans If You’re Gay Day” flyer, Pride Alliance records, acc. 2010-58, box 1, University Archives, University of Maryland.

On this day in 2001, the UMD Pride Alliance celebrated “Wear Jeans If You’re Gay Day” as part of their pride week celebration. Although this ‘holiday’ may seem unusual, it is actually a part of a student movement that began in the 1970s that asked campuses to confront their biases and stand in solidarity with LGBTQ students.

There is no published literature on the origin of gay jeans days as a political act, but it appears the first ‘Blue Jeans Day’ was hosted by the Rutgers Student Homophile League on October 11, 1974 as part of their Symposium on Gay Liberation and Education.1 As they are today, jeans were a staple of college fashion in the 1970s that most wore unconsciously in all their outfits. But, by making the donning of blue jeans a statement of one’s sexual orientation, people were forced to weigh the inconvenience of wearing something different against the stigma of wearing jeans and being perceived as gay. 

Although UMD also had a Student Homophile Association in the 1970s, we do not have any record of them participating in a Blue Jeans Day. But, perhaps we can imagine them as engaged in similar activities as part of their ‘raising the consciousness of gays,” “exposure,” or “educational activities and services,” that they include as goals in their July 1971 “S.H.A. Goal Priorities” list.2 

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S.H.A. Goal Priorities as of 7-71, Gay Student Alliance records, box 1, University Archives, University of Maryland.

On April 11, 2001 when the Pride Alliance held “Wear Jeans If You’re Gay Day,” the goals of the event were similar to those of the first Blue Jeans Day in 1974. One anonymous student said in a Diamondback article published the next day that “I think the day is more to have straight people be put in the position where others will wonder if they are gay; the position where they are thought of negatively… the position that I am in every day.”3 

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Jackie Trahey, “Pride Alliance sponsors ‘Wear Jeans if You are Gay Day,'” in The Diamondback, April 12, 2001.

There was slight confusion as to who exactly could participate in the day. The flyer for the event only includes “gay” people – does that include allies or other members of the LGBTQ community? Students asked themselves these questions, too. One student who identified as transgender said they felt excluded from the event because the flyer only included the gay community; this student admitted to not even owning a pair of jeans, but said “if I had, I probably would have participated, despite feeling slightly excluded.”4 

So are you wearing jeans today? How do you feel if you are? The questions asked by LGBTQ student activists of decades past are still worth reflecting on today. 

Update 7/21/2025: While doing research for our LGBTQ+ Activism LibGuide, I found a mention of UMD students participating in Blue Jeans Day back in 1980!

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Blue Jeans Day classified ad, The Diamondback, April 1, 1980.

Eleanor Vander Laan is a graduate student assistant in University Archives, pursuing a Master’s of Library and Information Science and an M.A. in History. Eleanor is interested in activism history, religious history, and making archives affirmative rather than exclusionary spaces. 

Sources:

  1. April C. Armstrong, “‘Wear ’Em’: Princeton University’s First Gay Jeans Day,” Princeton University Archives, June 9, 2021, https://universityarchives.princeton.edu/2021/06/wear-em-princeton-universitys-first-gay-jeans-day/.
  2. S.H.A. Goal Priorities as of 7-71, Gay Student Alliance records, box 1, University Archives, University of Maryland. 
  3. Jackie Trahey, “Pride Alliance sponsors ‘Wear Jeans if You are Gay Day,'” in The Diamondback, April 12, 2001, https://digital.lib.umd.edu/result/id/48a162b0-40f4-4ec2-9ef2-545be17a59b1?relpath=pcdm&query= 
  4. Trahey, “Pride Alliance sponsors ‘Wear Jeans if You are Gay Day.”

UMD Alum Spotlight: Henrietta Spiegel, our oldest Terp

On By umdarchivesIn alumni, People, Women's HistoryLeave a comment

By: Eleena Ghosh

black and white photo of henrietta spiegel sitting in a chair at commencement, in her cap and gown.

85-year-old Henrietta Spiegel attends commencement at Cole Field House, Diamondback Photos, Box 159, item 17692.

Happy Women’s History Month to Henrietta Spiegel, the oldest Terp to ever graduate from UMD! 

Spiegel and her husband came to the U.S. after her husband’s stint as a student of Sigmund Freud at the University of Vienna, where she ran a boarding house for women in College Park. After years, Spiegel finally decided it was her turn to complete her degree in 1985 at the age of 81. 

A diamondback article (below) states that a catalyst for this decision was her husband’s death, who was apparently a faculty member at UMD.1 This decision also came about because of Spiegel’s natural inclination towards knowledge and learning; in 1991, she stated that “education gives an internal satisfaction to people in all walks of life…. Without an education…. you cannot make it.” 

However, Spiegel didn’t merely go back to College Park to spend all of her time in the classroom– you only have one life and you have to make the most of it, don’t you? 

Because her house was located in Frat Row, over the years, she became close with the fraternity brothers of Sigma Nu and even attended a few tailgate parties with them! Sigma Nu brothers said that Spiegel was “one of the most understanding neighbors” they’ve ever had and her genial attitude earned the respect and trust of all the Sigma Nu brothers. To make it official, they even presented her with a plaque for being “The Best Neighbor That Anybody Ever Had” in 1987. 

newspaper article about spiegel titled "at 87, she's the student to look out for"

Kevin Peck, “At 87, she’s the student to look out for”, The Diamondback, January 28, 1991.

But Spiegel was a masterclass in balance– she went to tailgate parties, yes, but she also a 3.7 GPA, earned numerous awards for her academic achievements, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, the Mortar Board National Honor Society, Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Tau Delta, and Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities! She even stayed at UMD an extra semester so that she could take a math class that would earn her a spot in Phi Betta Kappa (becoming their oldest inductee!).

newspaper clipping titled "Congratulations to the newly elected phi beta kappa members"
newspaper clipping titled "Congratulations 1988-89 student award recipients"
newspaper clipping titled "in recognition of outstanding achievement"
newspaper clipping titled "Congratulations 1987-88 student award recipients"

(Left to right) The Diamondback May 1989 / The Diamondback April 1989 / The Diamondback December 1988 / The Diamondback May 1988

She also earned personal accolades for her care for the people around her– not just her fraternity neighbors, but also her fellow students, honor society members, and anyone who came to know her. She “did everything to protect them” because to her, they were “[her] children.”

Her guiding philosophy revolved around the idea that “the greatest investment a human makes is when he gives to young people who will follow.” In line with that, the first thing she did after getting her degrees in English and Sociology, was create the Henrietta Spiegel Creative Writing Award to honor undergraduates in creative writing. 

A former professor, Jack Salamanka, called Spiegel “a woman… full of such a spirit of charity and goodness… an example for all of humanity to follow.” 

Sources

1 – 2023 Faculty and Student Awards, UMD Department of English, https://english.umd.edu/news/2023-faculty-and-student-awards

Eleena Ghosh is a graduate student assistant in University Archives, pursuing a Master’s of Library and Information Sciences and a Museum Scholarship and Material Culture Certificate. She is interested in museum studies, creating more inclusive archival records and spaces, anthropology, and figuring out how to combine all of her different interests.

UMD Alum Spotlight: Tuskegee Airman Col. Fitzroy “Buck” Newsum (Class of 1958)

On By umdarchivesIn alumni, Black History, People, UpdatesLeave a comment

By: Natalie Trapuzzano

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“Fitzroy Newsum in flight gear inside airplane”; “Fitzroy Newsum in dress uniform”; “Fitzroy Newsum in flight gear standing next to airplane”; Photo Album, Fitzroy Newsum Collection, Veterans History Project collection. American Folk Life Center, Library of Congress.

As we witness UMD take steps to acknowledge the existence and efforts of our early student trailblazers in the fight to desegregate campus, we would like to shine a light on one man in particular—Fitzroy “Buck” Newsum.1 In addition to being part of the Class of 1958, Newsum was also a decorated colonel in the Air Force and a member of one of our nation’s most celebrated military personnel, the Tuskegee Airmen. He was likely also the University of Maryland at College Park’s first Black undergraduate to graduate with a degree.

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The Terrapin, 1958, p. 359. University Publications collection. UPUB S36.002.

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University Archives became aware of Newsum while digging through our digitized yearbooks to take note of early Black students; in doing so, we came across his senior photo from 1958, where it states that he was from Brooklyn, NY and earned his B.S. in Military Science.

Through yearbooks, commencement programs (screenshot above), and student newspapers, we were able to verify that Newsum did, in fact, graduate in 1958 and participated in Operation Bootstrap, an initiative that provided a subsidized education to Air Force members with less than six months of schooling left to complete.2 In the yearbook photo of the Bootstraps students (pictured below), Newsum is easily identified as the only Black veteran within the group. When speaking about his experience on campus to the Diamondback in 1980, he said, “I had an overwhelming sense of not belonging” and described how “[m]ost blacks went to class and went home to get away from the tension.”3

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The Terrapin, 1958, p. 103. University Publications collection. UPUB S36.002.

As we know from his service with the Tuskegee Airmen, Newsum was no stranger to trailblazing in segregated spaces. Although his story begins when he was born in New York City in 1918, his passion for flight was inspired while growing up in Trinidad. After moving to Barbados as an infant to be raised among his grandparents, he saw an airplane for the first time at age ten and told his mother, “I think that’s what I’d like to do.”4 Due to racial segregation, however, Newsum was repeatedly denied entry into the US Army Air Corps and was forced to enlist in the NY National Guard instead. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, he was commissioned to serve as a second lieutenant in the Anti-Aircraft Coast Artillery Corps and assigned to duty in Hawai’i.

While in the Pacific, he learned that he was chosen as one of thirty-three Black servicemen to take an entrance exam for the Army Air Corps and enter into a training program for Black pilots at a segregated base in Tuskegee, AL. Considered an “experiment,” Newsum described the Tuskegee Airmen as test subjects to prove whether or not “men of color had the intelligence to fly airplanes.” Exceeding the racist expectations that hindered Black military men and women, he graduated with the second Tuskegee class as a multi-engine pilot in 1943 and served with the 477th Bombardment Group, where he was the flight leader and squadron operations officer until 1947.5

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“Class 43K, the second class twin engine pilots to graduate from Tuskegee Army Air Field.” Photo Album, Fitzroy Newsum Collection, Veterans History Project collection. American Folk Life Center, Library of Congress.
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“Pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group standing in front of a P-47 Thunderbolt in 1948.” Photo Album, Fitzroy Newsum Collection, Veterans History Project collection. American Folk Life Center, Library of Congress.

Following his time with the 477th, Newsum stayed in the Air Force, serving tours in Japan, Korea, and Germany before his retirement as a full colonel in 1970. Throughout his 30+ year military tenure, he was awarded three Air Medals, two Air Force Commendation Medals, the Meritorious Service Award, and, along with other surviving Tuskegee Airmen, a collective Congressional Gold Medal in 2006. He passed away in Denver, CO in 2013 at the age of 95 and was buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery with full military honors.6

In photos from the later stages of his career, Newsum noted that, just like the photo from UMD’s Bootstraps Program, his face tended to be the only black one.7 Nevertheless, when asked what was his most significant memory of his military experience, he talked about the uncertainty he felt when he learned he would be serving five years in France in the early 1950s, saying: “When I got to the outfit, I didn’t know how I would be treated. You always had to be on your P’s and Q’s. But I was treated well. And I treated other people well. And I always remembered that. Treat them well, as you would have them treat you. I’m a firm believer in that.”8 His emphasis on kindness and respect was followed by his insistence on the importance of education, telling his interviewer, “School means everything to this family […] Go get your education. Learn something.”9

Although it seems he didn’t talk much about his time at UMD, our campus remains an important part of his educational journey, and vice versa. Although he claimed that “[t]here weren’t enough blacks on campus to make an impact” during his time as a student in College Park, we can look at his service record, his emphasis on kindness and respect, his dedication to education, and his trailblazing role as the earliest Black undergraduate at UMD as proof of his impact and a life well-lived.10

You can learn more about Newsum’s life and military service in his own words at the following links:

  • Fitzroy “Buck” Newsum interview, 2007 August 22. Tuskegee Airmen collection. UC Riverside Library, Special Collections and University Archives.
  • Fitzroy Newsum interview, n.d. Weeksville Heritage Center, Nina Talbot, Fitzroy Newsum, and Rachel Bernstein. Fitzroy Newsum Collection. 1937. Personal Narrative.

Natalie Trapuzzano is the University Archivist. Her professional interests center around the intersections between community, collaborative practice, storytelling, and justice.

Sources:

  1. “UMD dedicates Johnson-Whittle Hall to two trailblazers.” 2022 October 3. The Diamondback; “University of Maryland Dedicates Pyon-Chen Residence Hall.” 2021 October 1. UMD Right Now. ↩︎
  2. “AF Enrolls 22 Students On Bootstrap.” 1952 October 14. The Diamondback; Commencement Exercises, 1958. University Publications Collection. University Archives. University of Maryland. ↩︎
  3. “An all-white school integrates.” 1980 April 15. The Diamondback. ↩︎
  4. “Vet of the Day | U.S. Army Air Corps Veteran Fitzroy “Buck” Newsum.” 2022 August 26. Aerotech News. ↩︎
  5. “Fitzroy Newsum.” CAF Rise Above; “Air museum honors Tuskegee Airmen.” 2006 February 17. The Pueblo Chieftain. ↩︎
  6. “Fitzroy Newsum.” CAF Rise Above. ↩︎
  7. “Air museum honors Tuskegee Airmen.” 2006 February 17. The Pueblo Chieftain. ↩︎
  8. “Fitzroy ‘Buck’ Newsum interview: Tape 2.” 2007 August 22. Tuskegee Airmen collection. UC Riverside Library, Special Collections and University Archives. ↩︎
  9. Ibid. ↩︎
  10. “Blacks fought area segregation.” 1980 April 16. The Diamondback. ↩︎

Transgender Awareness Week – Protections for Gender Identity and Expression in the UMD Human Relations Code

On By umdarchivesIn Administrators, Campus History, Exhibits, Faculty & Staff, LGBTQ History, PeopleLeave a comment

By: Eleanor Vander Laan

Happy Transgender Awareness Week! For this blog post, we wanted to spotlight an important policy moment in the history of UMD’s transgender community: the fight for protections for gender identity and expression in the University of Maryland Human Relations Code in the early 2000s. This story reveals the complicated nature of being a public university that has to respond to many levels of bureaucracy, despite popular campus opinion. 


In Spring 2001, the Human Relations Committee of the University Senate – the body of elected members of the administration, faculty, staff, and students that holds legislative power within the university – began discussing adding language that protects “gender identity or gender expression” to the non-discrimination language in the Human Relations Code.1 At the time, the code only prohibited discrimination against race, marital status, age, and sexual orientation. In September 2002, Luke Jensen, the founding director of the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Equity, submitted a request to the Senate Executive Committee asking the Human Relations Committee to consider the same proposal. Jensen along with two transgender graduate students; Vicky Foxworth, chair of the President’s Commission on LGBT Issues in spring 2002; Pay Mielke, director of Resident Life in spring 2002; Deb Grandner, associate director of Resident Life in fall 2002; Jay Gilchrist, director of Campus Recreation Services in spring and fall 2002; and an unnamed faculty member who “cross-dresses when he is off campus” met with the Human Relations Committee to make their recommendation.2

The Human Relations believed that adding protections for “gender identity or gender expression” would accomplish four main things for transgender people on campus:

  1. Make fair and equitable treatment of transgender people a matter of policy not dependent on goodwill
  2. Create consistent and reasonable policies and procedures for the treatment of transgender people rather than the current ad hoc ones
  3. Make it imperative that all community members be proactive in supporting transgender students rather than just those with it explicitly in their job description
  4. More effectively communicate to transgender people that their presence and contributions on campus are valued and recognized3

On March 6, 2003 the University Senate unanimously voted in favor of the addition to the Human Relations Code!4 In an article in the Diamondback, Luke Jensen celebrated the victory, stating that he was “proud” of the University Senate, for the clause will protect those who identify as transgender, but also intersex individuals, “the heterosexual male who cross-dresses when away from the campus if that should be discovered,” and men who “dress a bit feminine” or a woman “who’s a bit masculine.”5

Image

 Luke Jensen, “Senate decision promotes diversity,” in The Diamondback, March 11, 2003.

Unfortunately, the protections did not immediately enter the code. After being signed by President Dan Mote, it was sent off for approval by the Chancellor Kirwan. After “considerable delay,” in February 2004 the Attorney General’s Office announced to the public that it could not be signed because the language used was too vague, and because of a rule passed by the University system thirty years earlier: “no class could be protected by any campus if that class were not protected in some jurisdiction of the campus – local, state, or federal.”6  Prince George’s County, nor Maryland, nor the federal government at this time had a rule prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity or expression, so it could not be signed without further action by the Board of Regents. After the overruling, the University Legal Office began revising the language to be more specific and within the law.


The overruling of the new code was a blow to the campus population. In one op-ed in the Diamondback, senior Ashton Phillips shared that the Assistant Attorney General Elena Langrill, who issued the overruling, did not adequately look into local and federal laws before making her decision, citing that there did exist a local law that prohibits this type of discrimination.7 In a letter to the editor, graduate student Jessica Xavier shared that the overruling will have a “chilling effect” on current and prospective transgender students who had just begun to feel a little safer on campus.8

Image

 Ashton Phillips, “Protect transgender students,” in The Diamondback, March 2, 2004.

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In response to the overruling, in March, 2004 the Student Government Association passed their own legislation to protect transgender students. Voting 27-1, they added language in the SGA bylaws to prevent SGA-funded student organizations from discriminating against transgender students; if they were found in violation of the rule, they would have their funding from SGA revoked.9 

Kate Slusark, “SGA endorses plan to protect transgendered,” in The Diamondback, March 30, 2004.

Meanwhile, University Legal Aid and Luke Jensen had been revising the language of the policy to be more specific. The language – largely borrowed from a law in Baltimore that protects gender identity and expression – now included the definition of gender identity as “the gender individuals identify as, regardless of what gender they were born,” and gender expression as “the expression of individuals in external presentation and/or appearance.”10 In April, they submitted the proposal to the Office of the Attorney General for their opinion.

In May, the Office of the Attorney General still did not approve because of the lack of local, state, or federal precedent. Despite this, Mote still approved the policy and even encouraged Kirwan to as well.11 But by December, Mote’s decision changed. The Attorney General’s Office believed that there was no legal necessity for the policy since the University could interpret the existing code that prohibited discrimination on the basis of “sex, sexual orientation, personal appearance, and physical or mental disability” to cover gender identity and expression since similar codes had done so throughout the United States in recent years.12 Mote decided to follow the advice of the Attorney General’s Office. 

In March 2005, the decision was announced to the university by Mote via email. The university would interpret the existing policy on non-discrimination to include transgender individuals, amend Resident Life policies to be more inclusive, and add at least one gender neutral bathroom to every university building.13 In communication with the Diamondback, Luke Jensen said that he still believed that the language needed to be in there and that it would remain a priority for his office, but that he was “satisfied” with the decision for the time being.14 

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Email from President C. D. Mote, Jr. to the campus community about Protected Categories in the University Human Relations Code, LGBT Equity Center records, acc. 2012-44, box 1, University Archives, University of Maryland.

There were, understandably, mixed reactions to this decision. Like Jensen, those on the Human Relations Committee were proud of the work they had done, but knew it was an “imperfect and temporary” solution.15 Michael Wolf, a Senior Economics student, wrote to the Diamondback that they were “no longer proud to be part of this university” that supposedly prided “ourselves on diversity.”16 Wolf believed that without explicit protections, discrimination would persist. 

In 2007, the University Senate attempted to pass an Employee Non-Discrimination Act that included protections for transgender employees, but the clause was eventually dropped so the rest of the act could pass faster. 


After this, the trail goes cold per the rights of transgender community members in the Human Relations Code for several years. We were not able to find anything in the student newspapers, the Equity Center records, the Pride Alliance records, or the University Senate records that would indicate it came up again. But, according to a December 2012 article in the Diamondback, in June 2012 the university started to include gender identity and expression in the nondiscrimination policy – something that was not included in the state policy at the time.18

What happened, we don’t know. The state of Maryland had been trying for several years at this point to get it added to state law, but they continued to fall short in the House. Our current working theory is that in 2011 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – whose laws the University of Maryland follows – voted to recognize that discrimination against someone for being transgender as a form of sex discrimination.19 Maybe the university was able to use this hiring law as precedent for the passing of a policy that protects gender identity and expression, we don’t know! If you are reading this and know, please write to us and let us know! We would love to update this post or do a part two!

Although this long battle for the inclusion of gender identity and expression is not necessarily a happy story, it is testament to the broader University of Maryland community’s at least twenty year-long recognition of and support for the transgender community – despite what policies were in place. Students frequently wrote into the Diamondback to express their support, the University Senate was always unanimously in support of greater protections for transgender community members, and there was even a rally in November 2004 in support of the policy.20 As this year’s Transgender Awareness Week ends, we want to affirm our trans Terps place in the history and future of the university. 

If you found any of this history interesting, make a request to see some of our LGBTQ archival collections! We have records from the Pride Alliance, the Equity Center, and Multicultural Involvement Community Advocacy; we also have a LibGuide on LGBTQ Student Activism here and a section on LGTBQ activism in our digital version of Rising Up: 100 Years of Student Activism for Justice and Civil Rights at UMD here. 

Image

Basket of pronoun pins and LGBTQ Terp stickers at the Hornbake Welcome Desk.

Eleanor Vander Laan is a graduate student assistant in University Archives, pursuing a Master’s of Library and Information Science and an M.A. in History. Eleanor is interested in activism history, religious history, and making archives affirmative rather than exclusionary spaces. 

Sources:
1. University Senate Meeting April 1, 2004, University Senate records, series 1, box 3, University Archives, University of Maryland.  

2.  University Senate Meeting April 1, 2004, University Archives, University of Maryland.

3. Transmittal and Abstract of Senate Report May 3, 2004, University Senate records, series 1, box 3, University Archives, University of Maryland.  

4. Debra Khan, “Senate passes legislation on intellectual property,” in The Diamondback, March 7, 2003. https://digital.lib.umd.edu/student-newspapers-old/id/fac41edb-1b9c-4e8c-83e7-3090363437dd?relpath=pcdm

5.  Luke Jensen, “Senate decision promotes diversity,” in The Diamondback, March 11, 2003. https://digital.lib.umd.edu/student-newspapers-old/id/75ac5375-97b0-4139-8585-57ce07a8e460?relpath=pcdm

6. University Senate Meeting April 1, 2004, University Archives, University of Maryland.

7. Ashton Phillips, “Protect transgender students,” in The Diamondback, March 2, 2004. https://digital.lib.umd.edu/student-newspapers-old/id/90d895f1-a6e8-49f1-b701-2e695e864a9e?relpath=pcdm&

8. Jessica Xavier, “Letter to the Editor: Ignoring gender identity in Human Relations Code will alienate students,” in The Diamondback, February 23, 2004. https://digital.lib.umd.edu/student-newspapers-old/id/8abd0a7c-dfa0-4232-a003-ff2157b8f581?relpath=pcdm

9.  Kate Slusark, “SGA endorses plan to protect transgendered,” in The Diamondback, March 30, 2004. https://digital.lib.umd.edu/student-newspapers-old/id/a1b374be-a1b8-42bf-bc1e-30936608573f?relpath=pcdm

10. Heather Keels, “Protections for transgendered close to approval,” in The Diamondback, April 23, 2004. https://digital.lib.umd.edu/student-newspapers-old/id/0a7af362-75c2-4693-9b7a-13731562dea0?relpath=pcdm.

11.  Letter from Dan Mote to William Kirwan May 12, 2004, LGBT Equity Center records, acc. 2012-44, box 1, University Archives, University of Maryland.

12. State of Maryland Office of the Attorney General Educational Affairs Division letter to President C. D. Mote, Jr. Re: Proposed Changes to UMCP’s Human Relations Code, LGBT Equity Center records, acc. 2012-44, box 1, University Archives, University of Maryland.

13. Mariana Minaya, “Campus tackles transgender issues,” in The Diamondback, April 4, 2005. https://digital.lib.umd.edu/student-newspapers-old/id/1ded2c78-8471-47e9-b661-1bfc85e56016?relpath=pcdm

14. Mariana Minaya, “Support swells for transgender cause policy remains unchanged,” in The Diamondback, March 18, 2005 https://digital.lib.umd.edu/student-newspapers-old/id/9e647d05-60d4-4edd-9317-b6f11e90b5d0?relpath=pcdm

15. Minaya, “Support swells for transgender cause,” in The Diamondback, March 18, 2005. 
16. Michael Wolf, “Letter to the Editor: Gender identity and expression should be protected class in Human Relations Code,” in The Diamondback, March 18, 2005. https://digital.lib.umd.edu/student-newspapers-old/id/d553e172-206b-4339-b2d2-a53d384c86bc?relpath=pcdm

17.  Tom Bradtke, “Political Unity: The Interests of the Few,” in The Diamondback, January 30, 2012. https://digital.lib.umd.edu/student-newspapers-old/id/0f590efb-ce20-48b0-9bd4-c72380a55da7?relpath=pcdm.

18.  Jenny Hottle, “Same Sex Marriage and Ongoing Battle for Equality,” in The Diamondback, December 13, 2012. https://digital.lib.umd.edu/student-newspapers-old/id/69c47dac-fa5b-42ab-bd1d-4c90edcd88c0?relpath=pcdm 

19. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “EEOC Celebrates Pride Month,” no date. https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/LGBTQI%20Civil%20Rights%20Infographic.pdf

20. “Today @ Maryland,” in The Diamondback, November 19. 2004. https://digital.lib.umd.edu/student-newspapers-old/id/67c390d9-3d25-4584-94ac-84f642e3519a?relpath=pcdm